Ste-Anne Gar­lic Fes­ti­val Sa­tur­day

The 8th an­nual Gar­lic Fes­ti­val will take place along the wa­ter­front in Ste-Anne-deBel­le­vue Sa­tur­day and or­ga­ni­zers are rea­dy to sur­pass the 3,500 visitors the event drew last year.

The Aug. 23 fes­ti­val being held at the week­ly Ste-Anne’s Far­mers’ Mar­ket will of­fer an en­tire day de­vo­ted to tas­ting, shop­ping, and lear­ning about gar­lic. Mar­ket spo­kes­per­son and co­or­di­na­tor Pat­ti Mur­phy said a high­ly de­si­red gour­met va­rie­ty known as black gar­lic will be in­tro­du­ced this year, while free mar­ket bags will be gi­ven out by Ber­nar­din Home Can­ning Com­pa­ny.

Ac­cor­ding to Mur­phy, the fes­ti­val was foun­ded by Dan Bri­se­bois from Ferme Tourne-sol in Les Cèdres.

Other events ta­king place du­ring the day will in­clude two com­pe­ti­tions in which ea­ger gro­wers and cooks can still re­gis­ter: The Gar­lic Gro­wers Com­pe­ti­tion which will show­case gar­lic spe­ci­mens in single bulbs and braids, and The Great Gar­lic Des­sert Chal­lenge.

Meanw­hile, 15 of the mar­ket’s more than 55 ven­dors will de­vote en­tire kiosks to cer­ti­fied or­ga­nic gar­lic bulbs or braids that are good for ea­ting or plan­ting. Other ven­dors will get in on the act with the fol­lo­wing: bar­be­cued gar­lic sau­sages, bru­schet­ta, gar­lic pes­tos, goat cheese with gar­lic, roas­ted gar­lic sal­sas, pi­ck­led gar­lic, hand­made gar­lic-kee­per pots and more.

There will al­so be gar­lic talks and work­shops.

The Ste-Annes Far­mers’ Mar­ket is lo­ca­ted along the Ste-Anne-de-Bel­le­vue wa­ter­front, at the in­ter­sec­tion of Ste. Anne and St. Pierre streets. The Aug. 23 fes­ti­val will run from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. To re­gis­ter for the com­pe­ti­tions, or for in­for­ma­tion, email or­ga­ni­zers at mar­ches­teanne@gmail.com, or call 514 831-3333.